Chapter Text
Ga On didn't think he'd ever hear that name again. Then again, he knew he had to blame it on Seoul. He hasn't heard his name for those past four years he was away and here he was, first day back, already being asked about him.
Last time he was even in Seoul was during Juk Chang's second trial. After the fight he had with his Chief about his methods and Ga On's betrayal, he thought it was high time to get himself out of this mess, so he left. He handed in his resignation the very same day and without looking back, he left. It was a hard decision for him at first, but when he realized that he had nothing left here, he knew that starting fresh would be just the thing for him. After all, Soo Hyun and Elijah were basically the only two people who genuinely cared about him and since he had lost the both of them, he figured there was no point for him to stay in this city.
He was well aware of the mess that was going on at the time he decided to leave, but he figured he wasn't needed there, there was no point for him to get involved if he wasn't on his side anymore and there was no way in hell that he'd ever forgive Ga On for betraying him like that, so leaving really did feel like the best he could do.
Of course Professor Min asked him not to go, to stay and help him finish whatever he had started, but Ga On refused. And he felt pretty damn good about it, because he found out later that the Professor was on Jung Sun Ah's side and they were plotting something together from the start.
It seemed like leaving Seoul was good for him, getting away from all that mess was definitely what he needed. He moved to Daegu, wanting to be as far away as possible and he found a job teaching at the university. He still wanted to do something concerning law, but he needed a break from being a judge, hence the teaching.
He was notified about the explosion by Jin Joo, who wanted to get away after everything that happened as well. Since she had nothing and no one in Seoul, just like Ga On, she decided to move to Daegu to at least have one friend and Ga On didn't complain, he actually liked having Jin Joo here. And after everything that's happened, he really needed a friend.
Finding out that Yo Han died in the explosion was... Unexpected. He never knew what the Chief's grand plan was, he never asked, but he definitely didn't think it would be something like that. If he had known the Chief planned to die along with those scumbags, he never would have left. He would have stayed and stopped him. And sure, Ga On may have been mad at him about Juk Chang's trial, about him wanting to play god and decide about people's lives, but had he known about his plans- He would have done things differently. He'd gotten so close to the Chief in the span of those few months they've worked together, it was really hard for him to find out that he was dead. He died, he basically sacrificied himself so that he could get his revenge and Ga On didn't get to say goodbye. Not really. Not the way he'd want to. That's why he grieved so hard, it was like Soo Hyun died all over again, maybe even worse. He missed Yo Han, he grew to like him as a person, which was totally unexpected and he felt sorry for him, for what he went through. He felt sorry that the older wouldn't even get a chance to live a normal life, something he probably never witnessed. And Ga On, well, he felt sad that he'd never get to experience that, the older enjoying his life, living his life. He felt sorry that he'd never see him again.
It's been four years since that incident and Ga On still thought about it every day. He wondered how Elijah was coping with it. He had no way of contacting her, but Ms. Ji told him that Elijah moved abroad to study and that she'd probably never come back. Too bad about that, because Ga On missed her like crazy. He and Elijah had gotten so close that he considered her his younger sister and his heart ached at the thought of her being alone now, with no family, grieving her uncle, the last relative she had left.
He wished there was a way to see her or talk to her somehow, but when he asked Ms. Ji about it, she said that Elijah asked her not to say anything to him. Hell, she even forbid the nanny from giving Ga On her phone number. Seems like Elijah must have resented him as much as Yo Han did when Ga On betrayed him. And he had to admit, he didn't blame her. After all, he acted awful. Betraying Yo Han was one thing, but then completely ignoring and abandoning Elijah and leaving Seoul were reasons enough for the young girl to be angry with him.
"Kim Ga On? Aren't you the judge who stopped working with Kang Yo Han a few days before he blew up the supreme court?" One of his new students asked. It seems like Elijah isn't the only person who may be angry at him. Ga On started wondering if the whole nation knows that he betrayed Yo Han and left him to die. Yes, he did betray him and yes, he did stop working with him a few days before the explosion. Did he regret it? Of course he did. But he didn't think that would be the hot topic of conversation the first day he was back in Seoul.
After spending four years in Daegu, Jin Joo was a bit bored and unhappy, and when she suddenly got a job offer in Seoul, she just couldn't refuse. So Ga On, being the best friend that he was, he decided that moving back to Seoul wouldn't be such a bad idea, since it's been years and things are a bit different now. And considering that he still didn't really want to go back to being a judge and preferred to teach, it wasn't hard for him to find a job in the city, the university of Seoul called him back the second he showed interest.
That's how he found himself back in the city, in his first class of the semester and the first thing he heard from his students was Yo Han's name, which he hadn't heard in a while, and lots of accusations along with it.
"Why did you stop working with him anyway? Did you not believe what he was doing was right?" One of the students asked. "Did you leave because he was dishonest?" Another added. "Did you leave because you were scared of his actions?" Another question. "Did you leave because you were a coward?" And another one. "Did you leave because he wanted to kill people?" "Did you know he was trying to kill people?" "Did you know he wanted to kill himself with them?"
Ga On couldn't really answer any of those questions, because honestly, he didn't know. Or better, he was scared of those answers himself. Did he leave because he was scared of Yo Han's actions? That was a possibility, definitely. More so, he was terrified of the person Yo Han would become if he'd start killing people. That is why he left. He didn't want to see the older losing himself in his revenge. It may have been a little selfish, sure. Ga On should have stayed and helped him, not run away and leave the Chief all alone to deal with this crap. He should have been braver, but that wasn't him. He was a coward and he knew that, he let people manipulate him easily and he hated the fact that he wasn't very assertive.
Before he could answer any of those uncomfortable questions, he was interrupted by someone entering the lecture hall and all the students started clapping for some weird reason. He only realized what was happening when he noticed who was the person entering the room. It was lawyer Ko.
Now that is a person who was brave enough. Lawyer Ko basically became this country's hero after he helped Yo Han expose the late president and SRF, and unlike the Chief himself, he played no role in actually killing those despicable people, so he was considered a hero. Ga On heard all about this from Jin Joo, but he didn't have the chance to actually talk to Ko In Guk and congratulate him, thank him, for not abandoning Yo Han, like he did. Then again, Ga On had a feeling that lawyer Ko wouldn't be interested in talking to him. He figured that In Guk must have hated him as much as Elijah probably did.
From what Ga On heard, lawyer Ko opened his own law firm that was apparently doing very well, since everybody wanted him to be their lawyer after what happened with the SRF. And apparently, he must have been one of the professors at the university of Seoul, or so Ga On figured out after he heard In Guk talking to the students.
"Professor Kim is here to teach you, not to be interrogated," Lawyer Ko said to the students. "And I trust you welcome him with open arms and study hard under his wing, since he's from my department and I will be responsible for your final grades." That was another thing Ga On had no idea about - In Guk apparently had his own department at the university, it seems like he was a very busy and needed person in Korea now.
It got Ga On thinking. Was In Guk the reason he got the job here? Or what about Jin Joo? Where did she get this new mysterious position? What if she worked for him as well? What was even happening right now?
He couldn't stop thinking about it, so as soon as his class was over, he gathered his things quickly and ran to In Guk's office. It took him a while to actually find it, but when he did and got there, he hesitated before going in. He wondered if he should do it, if he was allowed to interrupt him in his work, if it was okay to intrude, since they weren't even friends. So after taking some deep breaths, he finally knocked on the door and was surprised to get an immediate answer from In Guk, asking him to come in.
His office was pretty simple, yet stylish and very put together, with dark mahogany all over the room and brown leather armchairs situated around a coffee table in front of his desk. It was quite big for an office of a law professor, but Ga On figured he must have gotten some special treatment, being the hero and all that.
"Judge Kim, it's good to see you," In Guk said and motioned for him to sit.
Ga On didn't understand why he thought it was good to see him. He couldn't have liked seeing him, he probably hated him just like everyone else did. "Not really a judge anymore," Ga On commented and sat on one of the armchairs.
"You're still a judge, you just teach people how to become one now," lawyer Ko pointed out.
Sure, but teaching and practicing were two different things. ”What am I doing here, lawyer Ko? I didn’t expect to see you at this university, so I’m presuming that my acceptance call had something to do with you. I just don’t understand why you’d want me to work with you after everything that happened.”
He was no fool, there was no way that In Guk wanted to work with him willingly. He wouldn’t believe for a second that the older didn’t resent him. ”I offered Oh Jin Joo a job at my law firm,” he started explaining. So, Ga On was right. ”And she said that she’s not leaving Daegu without you. You didn’t really get any special treatment from me, judge Kim. You can thank your friend for this job.”
That doesn’t explain why he hired Jin Joo in the first place. Why now? And why would he settle for hiring Ga On as well, since he hated him? ”Are you sure you even want me here?” Ga On asked hesitantly.
“Why wouldn’t I?” In Guk frowned at him.
Why would you? Ga On thought it was ridiculous. ”I left when things got out of control. I left all of you, I betrayed-“ Yo Han. He didn’t know if he should even say his name in front of lawyer Ko. He wondered what the whole team must have felt like back then. They’d just lost K, and Ga On did what he did shortly after. He was sure that even Han So Yoon must have resented him.
“You did what you thought was best,” lawyer Ko said and Ga On didn’t understand why he’d defend him. ”I admit that stopping judge Kang from executing that thug was a smart move. I’d just prefer if you had done this differently,” he admitted then. So he was disappointed in him. That’s good, Ga On didn’t expect anything less. ”But why did you leave, judge Kim?”
Yeah, why did he? It must have been because he was actually ashamed of what he had done. He couldn’t look Yo Han in the eye after that, not even when they were fighting in his office that day. The good thing was that he’d never have to face him again.
Or was it?
He’d rather have Yo Han alive, hating him, than rotting in the ground with the rest of those idiots he killed in the supreme court. He may not have been that good of a person, but Ga On thought that he didn’t deserve to die like that. Not Yo Han, not with them. He couldn’t believe that he’d actually do something like that and leave Elijah without thinking twice about it.
“I didn’t feel like choosing a side in all of this,” Ga On admitted eventually. He did choose a side long before that day he betrayed his team, but he couldn’t actually make a decision after what he had done. He could have just went along with whatever Professor Min had in mind, but he didn’t want to work with this corrupt man. To be honest, he regretted spying on Yo Han and reporting it back to Min, a lot.
He obviously couldn’t go back to Yo Han after he betrayed him. It’s not that he didn’t want to. He regretted crossing him as soon as he’d done it, but he knew Yo Han would never take him back after that. Even if he did, Ga On knew it wouldn’t be genuine. He’d try to forgive him just out of obligation, or because Elijah asked him to, or because he looked like his brother. He wouldn’t have actually forgiven him, Ga On, for betraying him. It wouldn’t be fair to go back and make the Chief take him back. That’s why he figured it would be best to just leave and not make people’s lives difficult.
In Guk apparently chose to ignore his answer and change the subject to something else, something that Ga On didn’t want to talk about either. “Did you hear what happened?”
“Yes, Jin Joo told me about the supreme court,” he nodded right away. And what was he supposed to say? In Guk was clearly asking if he knew that Yo Han was dead. Of course he did, he’s been dealing with it those past four years. ”Seems like you turned out to be the real hero,” Ga On smiled at him.
“I only did what the chief had asked me to. He was the brilliant mind behind all of this.”
Ga On’s lips twitched in a fond smile again. “As always.”
Too bad that the brilliant mind decided to end himself along with the real criminals.
“Do you- Do you keep in touch with Elijah?” Ga On asked hesitantly. He didn’t know if he was even allowed to ask about her, if In Guk wouldn’t get angry at him for asking about the Chief’s niece after what he had done to him. After all, Ga On didn’t deserve Elijah and he had no right to ask about her.
“She calls once in a while,” lawyer Ko answered him simply. So he did keep in touch with her. Ga On wanted to ask so many questions now, but again, he didn’t think it was allowed.
“How-“
“You can ask her yourself.”
That was something he didn’t expect at all. ”What do you mean?” Ga On asked, shocked.
“She’s coming to visit Ji Young Ok next month, so you can see her and ask her yourself, judge Kim,” In Guk replied slowly.
Ga On didn’t know what to do with this information. He couldn’t believe that Elijah would actually be back here, in Korea. He wondered why she even left and where she went and how her life has been those past four years. He wanted to know how often she visited Ms. Ji, or if maybe that was the first time. He needed to know if she was doing okay, if she had any friends where she currently lived, if she was happy. Ga On wanted to see her and hug her and ask her how has she been dealing with Yo Han gone and being away in a different place all by herself.
He missed her, he missed her a lot. Yet he didn’t know why lawyer Ko suggested him a meeting with Elijah. Ga On was pretty sure that she wouldn’t want to see him. He was confidently positive about it, in fact. He let her down as well, and Elijah has never been the forgiving type. None of the Kangs ever were.
“I’m not sure she’d want to see me,” Ga On admitted.
That made In Guk snort at him right away.
“She asked me to tell you she’ll be in the country.”